Learn about Medical Journals

Did you hear the HealthLink on Air patient tip about medical journals and peer reviewed publications?  Learn more here.

(This is part 2 in a series.  Link here for the first tip about HON, Health On the Net.)

Do you ever look up health or medical information on the internet? More than 80 percent of Americans who have access to the internet use it, at least occasionally, to gather information about health and medical topics.

I’m often asked about how to find credible information on the web – many of you want to know how to determine if the information you find will help you.

Here's a second tip for finding credible information on the internet. 

Doctors and medical professionals rely on professional journals that have been published by professional science and medical organizations and publishers to keep them abreast of the latest research and findings.

You’ve probably heard some of their names: JAMA is the Journal of the American Medical Association. The New England Journal of Medicine is another one that is well-known. There are hundreds of them, published world-wide.

The best information published in these types of journals, and the information most likely to be helpful to you, is evidence-based; that is, information or findings that have been proven, scientifically, to be current and true. Further, the best journals are peer-reviewed, meaning, the best minds of medicine as they relate to those particular topics have accepted the way the research was done,and/ or the way the report was developed. This adds an extra layer of validity to the publication.

This evidence based and peer reviewed medical information may contain research and findings that could affect your treatment choices. Doctors are reading and learning from them – and you can, too.

Begin by getting a master list of medical journals to find those that relate to your condition or disease.  Here are links to lists of journals:

When you find one you’d like to review, or if one contains an article you would like to read, you may be able to link to it on the web directly – or you may find you can’t access it online. Unfortunately, sometimes you need a subscription or the articles are not accessible.

Regardless of whether the article can be found online, you can often get the information you need through the library. Check with the Health Information Library at SUNY Upstate, or your local public library. Librarians are very happy to help you get the information you need. Be sure to write down the name of the specific journal and article if you know them, to help make the librarian’s search easier.